معرفی
John Heiker is a Senior Lecturer and Group Leader at the Helmholtz Institute for Metabolic, Obesity and Vascular Research (HI-MAG) of Helmholtz Munich, affiliated with the University of Leipzig and University Hospital Leipzig since 2019. He also serves as a private lecturer (PD) at the Institute of Biochemistry, Faculty of Life Sciences, University of Leipzig, since 2020.
- 2006–2010: PhD at the Institute of Biochemistry, University of Leipzig
- 2010–2012: Postdoctoral Scientist at the Department of Medicine, Endocrinology and Diabetes, University of Leipzig
- 2013–2019: Leader of the Junior Research Group Molecular Medicine, Institute of Biochemistry, Leipzig University
- 2019–present: Leader of the Junior Research Group Molecular Obesity Research, HI-MAG, Helmholtz Munich
His research focuses on molecular mechanisms of obesity and its comorbidities, particularly protease-serpin interactions in adipose tissue, energy metabolism regulation, and epigenetic changes in thermogenic adipocytes. Recent work explores vaspin's role in metabolic disease treatment and myoglobin-mediated lipid shuttling in adipose tissue activation.
Scientific awards include the Friedrich Weygand Prize (2013), Research Academy Leipzig PhD Prize (2010), and participation in the 61st Lindau Nobel Laureate Meeting (2011). His grants include funding by the European Regional Development Fund (2013) for his junior research group. He is associated with the CRC (SFB) 1052 Obesity Mechanisms and collaborates with Helmholtz Zentrum München.